It’s Official: BMW promises to release M3 Touring

The sporty BMW M3 range has always lacked an estate/wagon body style, unless you count one-off concepts and numerous third-party conversions (see video). When a rumor emerged a few days ago that an M3 Touring was in the works, we discarded it as groundless, but today, BMW came out and confirmed it with a teaser video.

Just what exactly prompted the Bavarian automaker to greenlight it now, after many years of not doing so, is a good question. The company itself claims it just wanted to “meet the expectations” of clients who needed a car that would bring together “sports performance with everyday practicality.”

Even so, the launch is unlikely to occur any time soon. Whereas the new M3 Sedan should ship in September, its five-door sibling is still very much in development. The first test mules are yet to hit the Nürburgring, and the actual production likely won’t start until two years later or so.

The upcoming BMW M3 Touring will likely get the same chassis and suspension settings as the sedan. It should ship with the same three-liter inline-six engine and also be available in the “Pure” version with manual transmission and naturally aspirated engine. The default spec will utilize automatic transmission and turbocharged I6 instead.